FIRST PERSON

10 years ago

Enough With Edward Liddy

Hey, they're not all bad apples: Jake DeSantis, an executive of the financial products unit at AIG (the department responsible for bringing the whole company down), has published his resignation letter in an op-ed piece in The New York Times. DeSantis describes his working-class roots and how he climbed the corporate ladder on his own merits. He even volunteered to get a $1.00 salary—despite having no role in the destructive credit default swaps—as a service to the company and the government. Now, however, he has been "let down by both" and will no longer work in a "dysfunctional environment." DeSantis feels deceived that his guaranteed bonus may be seized by the government, and plans on donating whatever he does get of his bonus—as much as $742,006.40—to charities helping those suffering in the economy.